Where Shadows Seem to Wither
by MercuryFox22
Summary: Zelda went through many hardships and turmoil throughout her life. But the worst happens behind closed doors. WARNING: Dark.


I'm not sure why I suddenly wanted to write this. I just suddenly thought about it one day at school, and started scribbling it down. I warn you, it's fairly dark.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Legend of Zelda games or their characters.

This takes place right after Zelda speaks with Link in the Temple of Time and Ganondorf has kidnapped her.

Zelda stood still in her crystal prison. She had been taken to Din knows where by Ganondorf. The shimmering glass gave a false sense of warm beauty as she stood, waiting for something to happen in the darkness around her. The only light came from the crystal itself; a dim glow shivering like a candle's weak flame. Everything else surrounding her was pitch black. Zelda could only see herself and her small prison.

            She had waited and waited. Since the day Zelda had heard of Link's revival and seen him herself, holding the Master Sword, Zelda's heart had been flooded with a desperate and beautiful sense of hope. She strained with the urge to stop the masquerade. She hated disguising herself from him. All those years of hiding in the dark and the night, where everything seemed to wilt and wither. Zelda always had one light of faith and hope to grasp, and that was Link.

            Then there was the moment. Link had collected all the medallions and grown stronger. Strong enough to overthrow Ganondorf and finally return Hyrule to the way it once was. Zelda thought it was finally time. She revealed herself to Link, no longer pretending to be the beautiful Sheikan boy, but the elegant princess of Hyrule.

            That was her mistake.

            Zelda had revealed herself not only to Link, but also to Ganondorf. He seized the moment and stole Zelda away, taunting Link with her life.

            Zelda saw her trembling reflection in the glass wall when she realized she was crying. She hastily wiped away the tears, but still felt like a downtrodden fool. If she had just kept pretending a little longer, she wouldn't be here in this lifeless darkness. But it hurt so much to pretend all the time…

            A brilliant white flash filled the room and Zelda shielded her vulnerable eyes. Her vision blurred and she blinked to see what was happening.

            She could make out a doorway from which the cold white light streamed in like ice. Zelda blinked more and finally the clouds of muddle cleared from her eyes. She looked at the silhouette standing in the harsh light and felt steel clasp around her heart.

            That silhouette was for too familiar. It had stalked her in the millions of nightmares that trapped her as she slept the past seven years. A tall figure standing strong as though not even a falling mountain would move him. Even the hydra would slink away to the safety that was away from his force. Zelda's vision cleared to a new and horrible sharpness where she could make out every detail on his body. Her hearing suddenly keened a hundred times and she heard every calm breath he took. The smell of wine wafted from him and through the room and penetrated through the glass walls that held her. Zelda's senses picked up every horrifying thing about him, and every horrifying thing seemed to be suddenly intensified.

            He chuckled and his voice wracked through her head, strangling her thoughts. "I trust you've behaved well while I was away, Princess."

            Zelda could find no way to reply. She looked at him in what she hoped was a defiant manner and said nothing.

            Ganondorf chuckled again at her attempt to be brave. "There is no need to keep putting on facades for others, Princess." His expression changed to a thoughtful look. "They say you are courageous, Princess Zelda, and yet… you ran away." His smile turned cold, a sharp smirk. "You hid from me. You couldn't face me, but let your hero do all the work for you."

            Zelda's fists shook at her sides. How dare he try to make her feel guilty!

            Ganondorf continued his vicious game. "Did you feel better, knowing the Hero of Time—a mere boy, really—was risking his life for your troubles? Were you relieved to know all you had to do was hide while he wasted his life away, killing monsters and bathing in blood…"

            "Stop!" Zelda yelled. Her efforts to disregard his games were failing. "You taking over Hyrule was everyone's trouble! I had no choice but to hide from you!"

            Ganondorf smiled, pleased with her reaction. "Yes, you had to hide… because you know what I could do to you, don't you?" Something glinted in his eyes, and his voice seemed to take a dangerous tone.

            Zelda felt as though she was breaking through thin ice. "Link… Link will save me. He will kill you, and save me." Zelda's mind was fluttering in a slow panic, and could think of nothing else to say.

            But Ganondorf wasn't finished. He wasn't going to be finished. "You know what I could do to you, even before he gets to this castle. I could hurt you, I could kill you…"

            Cold sweat was forming on Zelda's brow. He _could_ kill her. Link wouldn't know, and would come to the castle anyways. By that time, Zelda could already be dead… Zelda mentally slapped herself. He was playing with her mind! He wanted her to lose control of her fear! She would not play along with him. She wouldn't be his toy.

            The glass surrounding Zelda suddenly disappeared and she dropped unsteadily onto her feet. Now there was no warm light around her… that glass prison had been the only thing between Ganondorf and herself. Zelda felt the last spark of bravery she had jump away and dissolve into nothingness. Fear soon replaced it.

            "I won't kill you yet." Ganondorf said. A vicious smile played on his lips. "I plan on letting the boy see you before he dies. However, I do think I could have some use for you before then."

            Zelda's eyes widened as his threatening form strode towards her. She scrambled backwards and fell over her in her high-heels. She hit the harsh cement ground and felt a throb pulse her head. However, that was the least of her worries as a hand wrapped in leather seized her arm in an agonizingly painful hold.

            Zelda screamed as she was dragged down hallways. She writhed and pulled to escape his excruciating hold, but he was relentless. She screamed and shrieked as she was hauled away, but no one came. No hero came to her rescue, no guard ran to protect her. Zelda had only herself, and it was not enough.

            They came to a dimly lit room and Ganondorf pushed her in. He shoved Zelda again, this time onto a bed.

            Zelda's eyes widened when she realized what his intentions were.

            The doors were slammed shut. The harsh light from the hall was no longer visible, but Zelda still felt an ice dagger stabbing at her heart.

            It was horrible, and it was painful. Ganondorf used her to his contentment, bending her to his will. She screamed as her body was used, as she bled, as he beat her. Without realizing it, she called out for her father, for Impa—for Link. She yelled out names as they flowed through her mind, begging for one of the images to stop it, to stop the pain. But she was still alone. No one would come for her.

            Zelda did not know how long she was there. She did not know for how long he pounded into her as she screamed and cried. Even after he finished with her, she still felt pain throbbing through her. Zelda couldn't think. She only cried. She cried and cried as Ganondorf left the room and she was left alone on the bed. Everything hurt, and she could find no energy to move. She could only shake as forceful sobs wracked her body.

            Again, Zelda lost track of time. The door eventually opened again. Zelda didn't look at the door. She didn't want to see him. The monster that had done this to her. Cool hands touched her shoulder and a feminine voice spoke to Zelda. She could not hear the words that were spoken to her over her own sobs. She merely sat up on the bed when strong arms pulled her up. Zelda continued crying as a robe was draped over her naked form, and she stood and walked as a woman helped her out of the room. Her sobs quieted slightly as she walked down the hall, the cold tiles seeming to sting her bare feet.

            The woman led Zelda into another room. She was led to a bathtub, filled with warm water. Zelda did not resist as she was assisted into the water and tears continued to stream across her face. She did not oppose to the stranger woman washing her clean. Zelda barely noted the woman's looks at that point. It was a young Gerudo woman.

            Zelda felt the filth of what just happened bathed off her, and she felt herself calm slightly. Tears still slid down her cheeks, but she no longer shuddered in sobs. The Gerudo woman helped Zelda out and began drying her off. Then she ran a comb quickly through her blonde, tangled hair. The comb yanked painfully at knots, but Zelda didn't wince. The pain she had been put through only a while ago had been much worse.

            The Gerudo woman exited the bathroom a moment and Zelda was left standing there. She looked up apathetically to see herself in a mirror. Her eyes were swollen and red from weeping, and her hair seemed limp. She did not even stand up straight. It was uncomfortable to do so.

            The woman returned and helped Zelda into a dress. Zelda barely noticed it was an exact copy of the dress Ganondorf had torn off her body. She didn't really think about how they could've gotten a copy. She didn't really care. Zelda found she couldn't really think or care about anything. Everything around just seemed… dull, lifeless. It all looked unreal. Zelda felt she was walking through some dream that was not her own.

            Again, Zelda was led to another room. This one seemed to be a guestroom of sorts. It was too empty to be welcoming, however. A table with a lamp and a bed were all that stood in the room. The walls were painted a dreary gray, like everything else. The Gerudo woman seated Zelda on the bed then left the room.

            Zelda merely sat there, her eyes unfocused as she stared at nothing. Finally, she started feeling again… Thoughts began to float into her mind again…

            'I feel cheap… and I feel dirty…' Those were her first thoughts. Some part of her mind commented on how silly that was; she had just taken a bath. Another part of Zelda knew what the thought had meant. She was dirty because her body was corrupted. She was cheap because she had let someone use her body that way.

            'But I didn't want to!' A voice suddenly shrieked in Zelda's mind. 'He used me, but I didn't want him to! He forced me! HE RAPED ME!'

            Zelda felt as though someone dumped cold water all over her. The thought had come like some sort of sudden realization. She had been raped. Ganondorf raped her. The sentence echoed through her mind, like some sort of sick song. It was wrong. This was wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

            A fresh wave of pain washed over Zelda, both physically and mentally. She fell onto the bed and curled herself into a ball as she wept all over again. She hated him. She hated Ganondorf for what he had taken away from her. The first time was supposed to be with the man you married, the man you loved. Zelda had never even been kissed.

            Zelda was sure an hour must have passed as she lay there, crying in her own self-pity. The Gerudo woman came back and forced Zelda into gloves, shoes, and a tiara. They were all identical to the ones she had worn before Ganondorf had used her. The woman helped Zelda up and to walk down the cold hallway again. Zelda did not have to ask. Somehow, she knew where they were going, who they were going to see.

            The room was large, a false sense of welcome washing over it. Zelda felt all but welcomed. She managed to stop her sobbing, and now only the occasional tear slid down every so often. A large organ played in the middle of the room. Zelda heard the male voice being spoken to the Gerudo woman and she did not have to guess who was playing. The Gerudo woman spoke something, bowed, and then left.

            Again, a dimly glowing crystal surrounded Zelda, trapping her. But she did not feel trapped in here anymore.

            To her, it was the only place she was safe in this castle.

            The crystal lifted by itself and hung over the organ, like an ornament. It was a beautiful ornament, shimmering in the firelight over the room. Ganondorf seemed to admire its effect on the room before he continued playing. "Your hero will be getting here soon," he said to Zelda.

            Zelda could not bring herself to say anything. Instead, she gazed at her reflection in the glass as she began straightening herself out. It still felt unreal, especially wiping her face clean of tears after she had been crying for what seemed like hours. She would not let Link see her looking like she has died. No, in fact, she wouldn't tell him what happened. She wouldn't tell anyone. She would just force it out of her mind and erase it from her memories.

            If she pretended it never happened, it would go away. Right?


End file.
